Automatic valve controlling device



o 16, 1934. H. F. RODLER AUTOMATIC VALVE CONTROLLING DEVICE Filed June 24; 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I ENTOR.

ATTORNEY m Z m a w H m 6 JEWNH M m m Oct. 16, 1934. H. F. RODLER AUTOMATIC VALVE CONTROLLING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 24, 1952 OR. r

A TTORNEY Patented Oct. 16, 1934 UNITED, STATES OFFICE Jersey Application June 24, IQtlZQSeriaIHNo. 619,130- '1 Claim. '(Cl. 137- 140) 'Ihisinvention relates to ,the automatic control of valves, and more particularly to means for automatically controlling valves for supplying fuel-to oil burning apparatus and the like.

Itis the general practice to control oil burning apparatus for household heating purposes and .the like by means of-thermostats, which automaticallycause the closing of a fuel supply valve and thestopping of anelectriomotor when aprede- 10 termined mazcimumtemperature is reached, and

automatically causethe valve to open and the motor to operate when a; predetermined minimum temperature is reached. -Heretofore, the valve has been magnetically controlled, that is ;its opening or closing: has depended upon theenergization of a-solenoid;. and the operation of .the valve has been independent ofthe operation or speed'otthe motor. Such a'method of control is'objectionable in thatshould'the motor fail to operate when the minimum 7 temperature has been reached, and'the valve is independently opened; the fuel oil will continue to: flow through 1 the valve: into the oil burning apparatus without "being atomized or gasified by apparatus-associated with and dependent upon the operation of the motor, resulting in an undesired accumulation of -oil in-ia liquid state.

:The independentcontrol of the motor andthe fuel supply valve is also objectionable in that the oil begins a to flow freely through the'valve before themotor has attainedsuificientspeed to cause apparatus associated therewithto properly atomize: orggasify'the oil, resulting in an excess fuel in the burnerrat the time-offignition; which causes a noisy explosion. Inasmuch as these explosionsoccur ateach ignition gofthe'fuel, which is frequent, dam-aging strains are .placed on 1 the apparatus. causing. the parts to become loose and thegeneral operation "of the apparatus-to be iaulty, andnoisy.

It istherefore an. obj ect: of thiszinventio-n :to

7 provide means for controlling a fuel supply valve,

' which means are dependentrupon the operation i and: speed of awmotor.

A further object iszthe provision 'in anoil burning: apparatus -of means for: automaticallyw opening a fuel supply valve only 'WhBIITDBJtS-OfLthE apparatus have been placed :in conditionto prop verly atomize: orga'sify the oil flowing. through the valve. i

A further objectiisf-the provision of tmeanszfor .u-automatically :op'ening or' closing a. valve, .said means depending upon. the speedof. a motor. A' further objectis-theprovision' of novelvalve .551 for; controllingathessupfiy of. fuel oi1;;to

'- an LOH :burning apparatus for heat ng dwelling and .to enablequiet operation ,of the apparatus. -These-. -and other-advantageous objects, which 1 will lateriappear are accomplished by the simple and practical constructionand arrangement 6. :ofrparts hereinafter described and 'exhibited in .the accompanying drawings, form part hereof ;and i1r which: l

Fig.1 representslan elevational view of an oil burning apparatus embodying the-invention, Fig.3,2: represents-a sectional ,view ,of the valve i-andcontrolling meanstherefor,

.=.Fig.;- 3 represents a sectionalviewtaken'on line 3'- 3=:rof Fig. 2, v -.-Fig..4 representsa plan: viewrof; a lever; forming 5,7 pan element-of the valvecontrol means,

i representsaasectional View of amodiiied avalve sttucturaend V v V ;:F,ig.*; :61;isnan elevationalview showinsin detail :the: engagementebetween :a governing. device and- 1 :arlever forming; an element of the-invention.

Referring to the drawings, in fFigs l and, 2 is shownzm aoiliburning apparatus, including la; motor 5 having ;a;shaft -16; whichzdrives .anatomizing and lgasifying: device generally indicated by: image :mumerall .7. The motorl-is mounted vertically-on supports 8, thedevicealgbeing arranged:v above the 'emotor. 1

Attached to shaft 6, below the motor, ,isaagoverning device :14 comprising :;a plurality of pivotallyrmounted bell cranks, each of i which has a .shortarm 9 and Jones armllflh th l ne a ms; 0 .being c weighted: and: arranged to fly outw ardly fromthecentm'fugal force. created when'the. shaft hasvattained a "predetermined speed. 1

;Loosely ;mounted1on the shaft 6 is; a collar 11, iWhiChiS atall times in engagement with the short arms 9, and is maintained in sucha condition-by a spring 12;.the latter-tearing against lat collar l1 andi the', collar-13;: whichis'fixed tothe shaft 6 35 :by means ofxa set-screw or the like.

The collar ,ull' has, an lannular flangeg 14 which :15 inconstantzengagementwith hardened thrust bearings. 63- on :the arm 15 of a lever pivoted. at 16 to .-a casing fir ionthe; structure; ab as: shown-.in-Eigs; 1w and 2. p

The other arm 15 of the lever;has,.a;hardened 1' thrust; bearing which engages the. valve stem WI'laWhichis'slidable in a passage '18 the block 119;.the upper. end of the passageflaringoutwardlyqdOB 551901111120 zthezshape of the .valve seat20, and th63y10 oVB. d.escribec1,;

head 21 has fixed thereto several annular bands 22 of leather or a similar material, the bands being spaced apart. The bands 22 insure an oiltight engagement of the seat 20 and the head 21 when the valve, which they comprise, is closed.

Slightly below the valve seat 20, the block has a passage 23 transverse to and communicating with the passage 18, the valve stem 17 being reduced at 24 so as to allow the flow of oil from the valve through passages 18 and 23 when the head 21 is raised from the seat 20. The lower end of the valve stem is provided with suitable packing 25 to prevent leakage of oil at that point.

The flared portion of the passage 18 opens into a cylindrical chamber 26 in which is positioned a compression spring 27, which bears upon the head 21 to normally force the head on to the seat 20 to close the valve. The spring 2'7 is held in'place by a threaded cap 28 screwed into the block.

The chamber 26 communicates with the passage 29, in which is adjustably positioned a metering device. The passage 29 in turn communicates with the transverse passage 30, through which oil is introduced into the device from a supply source, (not shown).

The metering device includes a rod 31 having out in its end a tapered, angular groove 32. By adjusting the position of the rod, the flow of oil from passage through the angular groove 32 to the chamber 26 can be regulated.

In operation, the spring 27 normally maintains the head 21 seated to close the valve to prevent the flow of oil through passage 23 to the atomizing and gasifying device 7. When the motor is placed in operation and attains a speed suflicient for the proper operation of the atomizing and gasifying device '7, the weighted arms 10 of the governing device 4 are forced outwardly by the centrifugal force created, and this movement causes rotation of the bell crank levers; and arms 9 force the collar 11 downwardly against the action of spring 12.

The downward movement of the collar 11 andthe flange l l which is integral therewith forces the arm 15 of the lever downwardly, at the same time forcing the other arm 15 upwardly to move the valve stem 17 to raise the head 21 and open the valve, to allow the flow of oil through passage 23.

It will be seen that the valve'does not open at the same instant the motor is started, but opens only when the motor has attained a speed suilicient to cause proper atomization or gasification of the oil. into the atomizing device '1, the latter is in proper position to perform its intended functions, and there is no excess oil to cause noisy explosions at the'time of ignition.

On the other hand, it will be noted that as soon as the speed of the motor falls below the speed necessary for proper operation of the device 7, the arms 10 immediately fall into the po sition shown in Fig. 2 and the spring 12 moves the collar 11 upwardly to relieve the pressure of the lever on the valve stem 17, and spring 2'7 immediately forces the valve head 21 downwardly to close the valve.

It will be seen that if Ifor'anyreason should fail to function, my valve control device positively prevents the flow of oil as the opening of the valve and the flow of the oil is dependent entirely upon the speed of the motor.

In Fig. 5 a slightly modified form of valve is disclosed having a seat in the form of a plurality of annular terraces 40, the edges of which,

Consequently when oil is introduced the motor when the valve is closed, engage annular bands 41 which are fixed to the conical head 42 and project slightly therefrom. The bands 41 may be made of leather or a similar material. The head 42 is attached to a valve stem 13 movable in a block 44, the stem 43 resting upon the bottom 45 of a metallic bellows 46 which is attached to the block and prevents the leaking of oil therefrom. The bottom 45 of the bellows engages the arm 15 as above described in connection with the electrical circuit is broken through the motor, the motor will gradually decrease in speed, but, owing to the centrifugal force, the arms 10 still hold in an outward position until the spring 12 snaps up the collar, closing the arms to position as shown in Fig. 2. At this same time the spring 27, working in conjunction with spring 12,

immediately snaps the valve head-21 downward-' ly to instantly close the valves. When the weights have fallen'to the position shown in Fig. 2, the collar 11 will be snapped up to the position shown in Fig. 2, by the spring 12, allowing the spring 27 to snap the valve head 21 downwardly to instantly close the valve completely.

It will also be noted that a metering device is located on the inlet side of the valve and introduces oil under pressure above the head 21. The latter is therefore subjected to the pressure of the oil in addition to the pressure of spring 27, which is a more desirable arrangement than the introduction of oil to the valve from a point below the head 21, in which case the pressure of the oil would counteract the force exerted by spring 27.

The location of the metering device on the intake side of the valve also enables a uniform and steady supply of oil to the atomizing and gasifying device. This is of importance in the event that should there be a tendency of the valve to vibrate and the metering device be on the exhaust side of the valve, there would be an unsteady flow through the metering device and the oil would enter the atomizing device 7 in spurts. l The arrangement of the governing device 4, the .collar 11 with the spring 12, has a thrust action on the shaft 6; and although the motor-is vertically suspended the thrust action exerted by the parts above described counteracts tendencies of the shaft 6 to oscillate, and consequently, no thrust bearing is necessary. This arrangement is further desirable in that if necessary, the shaft may be extended through the casing 3 so that there may be. a direct drive from the shaft 6 tooperate other devices such as, for example, an oil pump or the like.

From the above description it will be seen that I have provided a novel and simple manner of controlling the flow of oil to an oil-burning apparatus for heating dwellings.

While my invention has been described with special reference to oil burning apparatus and the like, it is obvious to a person skilled in the art that it may be readily adapted for use in many' situations in which it is desired to synchronize the flow of a liquid or gas with the movement of another device.

The foregoing disclosure is to be regarded as descriptive and illustrative only, and not as restrictive or limitative of the invention, of which obviously an embodiment may be constructed including many modifications without departing from the general scope herein indicated and denoted in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

In combination, a motor shaft, a governing device attached to the shaft, a collar rotatably and slidably mounted on the shaft and engaging the governing device, said collar having one end recessed, a. collar fixed to the shaft, a compression spring positioned in the recess in the slidable collar and surrounding the shaft, said spring engag ing the fixed collar and the slidable collar to normally maintain the slidable collar in a predetermined position on the shaft, a valve stem, and a lever engaging the valve stem and having a forked extremity engaging the slidable collar, said governing device acting on the collar to cause the lever to force the stem to open a valve when the shaft attains a predetermined speed.

HILMER F. RODLER. 

